Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

The talk of dirty war action is just ruin or unfulfilled wishful thinking, where good characters are absent, or even unbearably obnoxious, giving the impression that whether it's the overacting or if it was built this badly from the start, it's hard to keep a film on such wobbly legs that you know how it's going to turn out. Therefore, any refreshment is welcome, rather than watching a generic blockbuster, of which you have a dozen a year, and it would have been enough to throw away 120 minutes and stick the last fifteen as a prologue to Episode IV. This is because few films this year have had as strong a highlight as the one when the red lightsaber lights up in the shadows. (12/15/2016)

Another Star Wars movie. And a great one at that! Rogue One has a bold and wonderful cast with some lesser known faces, especially in the case of the main characters, who are not chosen Jedis, but just regular mortals whose fate is to fulfil a single, but extremely important task in the saga. A fast-paced story packed with all kinds of fantastically epical action, taking place in beautiful, creatively designed locations (the huge ATATs at the Maldivian “atoll” are a childhood dream come true). Lovely episodes featuring beloved Star Wars characters, the plot of which is well linked to the first trilogy. Finally, an intriguing and powerful dramatic tangle of a large number of characters, each having their own importance and whose actions define the pillars of the first trilogy. You can see that this was written by people who not only love Star Wars, but also know how to work dramatically with characters and stories beyond the boundaries of fantasy. And they do not steal from the mythology of the Star Wars universe, but complement and develop it. Bravo! (12/14/2016)

It took a long 33 years, but we finally got it. After Episode 6, the best film in the Star Wars universe. It doesn't feel contrived, it doesn't tell the story through bridges for morons, and it treats the main and episodic characters in a brash and bleak way, like in a real war. The beginning is perhaps too slow (my only complaint), but otherwise it's pure fan joy. I'd love to have a beer with Gareth Edwards, not only is he one of the few to understand the poetry of the original Japanese Godzilla films, but his rendition of Star Wars doesn't look like a cheesy coloring book either. Give him Star Trek, too! (12/21/2016)

Edwards filmed this exactly to my taste. A Star Wars fans’ dream come true. Nothing more, nothing less. It doesn’t change anything about the saga; these sideline events aren’t vital to the big story, they “just" expand on it. Rogue One offers a great deal of action and exceptionally (with such little room to develop) layered characters, headed by a cruelly sincere robot. Felicity Jones je excellent, but everyone in the team is indispensible for final result, which forms a founding pillar of Star Wars. Mendelsohn is a dignified baddy. An ambitious villain who is disgusted at the inefficiency of his imperial colleagues and tries to find support in Vader. The fairytale atmosphere is replaced with semi-documentary wartime confusion and excellent action sequences, and the only smear on its beauty are the two digital faces. The demonstrations of power by the Death Star were much more horrific than in the original trilogy (the fifty megaton Tsar Hadra) and if this part of Star Wars had any purpose, it was this demonstration of the Empire’s newly attained power. A more than dignified farewell to Darth Vader. (12/14/2016)

Something is wrong if you have to wait 131 minutes for the first great scene in a film that is 133 minutes long. This film is not made out of love and fondness for Star Wars, it's made for people who will go to see it out of love and fondness for Star Wars, because any billion in profit is good. A woefully ordinary and completely useless film that doesn't fit in with either the old or the new episodes. (12/16/2016)